


Hit It Off

by distinctive_pineapples



Series: Better Skies [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-11
Packaged: 2018-11-12 21:13:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11170182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/distinctive_pineapples/pseuds/distinctive_pineapples
Summary: She would have reveled in her victory for a while longer if she hadn’t noticed a few glaring details.Sure, the man in front of her had a patch of light hair above his brow, but unless Lotor’s hair was darker and significantlyshorterthan she’d initially perceived, Allura had just punched the wrong man.In which Allura's friends (read: mostly Lance) decide to throw her a party with a bunch of eligible suitors (read: giant blind date), and a case of mistaken identity leads to a meet-cute (read: this is why you don't sneak up on people, Shiro).





	Hit It Off

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is a pretty experimental exercise for me in a lot of ways. This is only my first posted VLD/Shallura fic (second one I've completed, and the other will come later), so I'm still getting the feel of writing these characters. Probably doesn't help that I've set this in an alternate universe, but oh well. 
> 
> Additionally, the concept and bare bones of this story started out as an AU fic for a different fandom back in 2011-2012, but I left it unfinished on my hard drive for years, though I occasionally pulled it out for a reread. By the time I started writing fic again after a five-year absence, I had fallen far out of the original fandom, but still thought this was kind of a funny idea, and decided it would work well as a Shallura AU. So I rewrote the majority of it and ended up here. 
> 
> A quick note: I've tagged the teen paladins because they all do appear and speak a few lines, but outside of the beginning they're more in the background. Just wanted to put that out there in case you showed up for them, but hey, the story's pretty short overall, so I guess they're still in a decent chunk of it?
> 
> I don't have much else to say about this beyond the fact that it's just a silly little AU story that I finally decided to put out there. 
> 
> Enjoy!

“Why in the universe do I call you guys my friends?”

Allura crossed her arms and leaned against the kitchen counter, leveling a stern stare at the four teenagers in front of her as if they were unruly children left in her care. It was a fairly accurate analogy, as she often felt like a babysitter rather than the responsible role model she aimed to be, but that was because this group had a knack for stumbling into trouble (and if there wasn’t any trouble to be found, they’d _cause_ it).

Hunk, who probably suffered from the crew’s antics more than he enabled them (though he certainly had his indiscretions), at least had the decency to look ashamed as he prepared a new appetizer plate. The others, not so much—Pidge was on her laptop and had long ago tuned out, while Keith was sulking over by the refrigerator, and Lance was… being _Lance_.

The Cuban teen dramatically spun away from the cupboard to confront Allura, a mock-offended look on his face and a hand clutched to his chest. “You wound me with those biting words of yours, Allura. What have we done to awaken the vicious Altea-Beast?” He held out his hands like claws and hissed, before pretending to swoon from the horror.

(That was enough to drag Pidge out of her work for a moment to roll her eyes.)

Allura merely blinked, an expression of disapproval still painted on her face. “Does this sound familiar to you at all? ‘Hey, Allura, we’re throwing a party at Hunk’s on Friday. You want to come?’”

“Why, yes, it _does_ ring a bell. How is that an issue?”

Allura drew her lips into a thin line and stepped over to the window. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s because you failed to mention that I’m filling the title role in your version of ‘The Bachelorette’!” She dramatically yanked the drape to the side and motioned towards the backyard full of (admittedly attractive) men.

“Oh, right, _that_ ,” Lance drawled, but soon shriveled in fear as Allura moved to loom over him.

Thankfully, Hunk stepped in to provide some damage control. “We just wanted to do something to thank you for putting up with us for the past year, and for being the older sister we weren’t necessarily looking for but wholeheartedly appreciate.”

As touching as that was, the feeling didn’t last long. “And you thought setting me up on a giant blind date was the best way to thank me?”

Keith, still lurking, finally broke his silence. “That was all Lance.”

The teen in question squawked in indignation at being thrown under the bus and lunged to get right up in Keith’s face. Though they’d resolved their longtime “rivalry,” the two boys were still indisputably the prime source of conflict within the group. Hunk spared Allura the trouble of having to break them up by physically wedging himself between the feuding parties, while Pidge finally set her work aside.

“Don’t worry, Matt’s personally vetted most of the guys out there,” she reassured Allura, pushing her glasses up onto the bridge of her nose. She soon paused mid-motion and pursed her lips in thought. “Although, that’s admittedly not the best indicator. Matt is too _nice_ for his own good, and he likes to give people a chance. He has enough sense to avoid the psychos, but I’d still recommend proceeding with caution.”

Allura grimaced at the not-so-soothing comments. “Thanks, Pidge.”

The younger girl replied with a bored shrug, just as Lance finally diverted his attention from the waning battle with Keith and turned back to Allura.

“Look, Allura, you haven’t had a date in a long time— _definitely_ not in the time we’ve known you. We just want to fix that,” he explained, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. He went for a wide-eyed innocent expression to complete the pose, as if he expected Allura to cave under its influence.

_Yeah, not so much._

“Stay out of my love life, Lance!” Allura finally blurted, clenching her fists tightly against her legs and squeezing her eyes shut. She knew quite well that Lance fancied himself as some sort of charmer, but a matchmaker? That was questionable.

To be fair, Allura hadn’t seen Lance’s skills in action before, but she didn’t have much of a desire to do so, especially when they were being used on her own behalf. She had too many things on her plate already and her fair share of wounds that had yet to scar over—romance was lightyears away from being an item of importance.

The outburst had silenced the four teens, who were now exchanging wordless glances as if acknowledging that their plan wasn’t a good move. It wouldn’t be too difficult to clear out the backyard—if the guest of honor refused to make an appearance and the food supply was cut off, then the attendees would have no reason to stick around. A quick cleanup later, and the quartet could easily turn the night into a more appropriate celebration for their esteemed friend, complete with Allura’s favorite action movies.

Just as Keith—deemed the most threatening of the group (though still leaving a bit to be desired)—pushed off the wall to go kick everyone out, Allura held up one hand to stop him, while the other reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Perhaps it was a ridiculous plan and the one thing she _really_ didn’t need right now, but this ragtag group of teenagers over which she’d somehow assumed leadership had tried to prepare something to show her they cared. Who was she to reject a gesture of gratitude?

“One hour,” she declared, giving each of her friends a pointed look. “I’ll make the rounds and chat up some of our guests for an hour. After that, they’re all out, and I want a nice cup of juniberry tea waiting for me.”

Hunk and Keith nodded obediently in acceptance of her terms, smiling (or, in Keith’s case, lips turning up just slightly) as they did so. Pidge and Lance kept their faces neutral, though their celebratory fist-bump did not go unnoticed.

“Hey, what happens if you hit the one-hour mark and you’ve found your perfect suitor?” Lance asked as the group prepared to file out into the backyard. “You plan on kicking him out too?”

Allura let out a short laugh as she slid the glass door open and stepped out onto the deck. “What makes you think any of that will happen?”

Surprisingly, Keith was the one to respond, the corner of his mouth twitching in a playful smirk. “Oh, I’m sure you’ll hit it off with someone.”

* * *

Fifteen minutes after she finally left the kitchen and slipped into the backyard, Allura failed to make any progress. That wasn’t to say she didn’t catch anyone’s eye (she was practically accosted by a bunch of ex-frat guys, as well as a tall, pale, and suspicious-looking guy who introduced himself as Lotor). The thing was, everyone out there either failed to interest her, was a Lance clone, or just plain creeped her out (because something about that Lotor character made her wonder if she should get a gun… or five).

“Having fun?” Lance’s voice sounded loud and clear over the chatter as Allura finally pried herself away from a particularly clingy attendee. She shuddered once she was a safe distance away, then promptly locked a glare on Lance.

“What, are you _that_ concerned about your little plan working out like you hoped?”

Lance bit his lip at Allura’s displeasure and hunched his shoulders nervously. “Okay, _maybe_ some of the guys you’ve met so far haven’t been the perfect fit…”

“An understatement, really.”

“Fair enough.” He looked over his shoulder as if searching for someone, then quickly turned back to Allura. “Look, Keith’s brother should be here soon—you know, ex-military guy with a heart of gold, giant space nerd, once kicked Matt’s ass in an epic battle with knockoff lightsabers? You’ve heard the stories. He’s been away for a while, and he just came back last night. We’ve already told him about you, so will you at least talk to him?”

Allura vehemently shook her head. “Forget it, Lance. I said I’d try, but I really can’t do this anymore. Tell the others I’m sorry and that I’ll see you all at Coran’s in the morning. Goodnight.” With a sigh, she turned and began to make her way back to her car.

“Allura!” she heard Lance shout over the other partygoers, but she ignored him.  Nope, she was done with this giant blind date with a bunch of suitors. It was time to go home to cuddle with her mice and just move on.

However, just when she had managed to shove her way up to the front lawn, Allura felt a hand upon her shoulder. She immediately froze in her tracks, and out of the corner of her eye she caught a small flash of white hair.

There was only one other person besides herself who was in attendance at this party and had such light hair, and Allura _absolutely_ did not want to see him again tonight. Or ever, for that matter. But Lotor seemed to be unable to accept it when a woman was clearly uninterested in him…

Before she could fully comprehend what she was doing, Allura spun and flung her fist—in perfect form—directly into his face.

A yelp and a sickening crack followed the impact, and Allura grinned triumphantly. Hopefully _that_ would help get her point across to Lotor.

She would have reveled in her victory for a while longer if she hadn’t noticed a few glaring details.

Sure, the man in front of her had a patch of light hair above his brow, but unless Lotor’s hair was darker and significantly _shorter_ than she’d initially perceived, Allura had just punched the wrong man.

Hands clasped over her mouth in horror, but still wary, Allura moved closer to the injured man. He was doubled over and groaning quietly, with one hand—was that a prosthetic?—carefully clasped over his nose.

“Oh _quiznak_ , I’m so sorry,” Allura blurted, hesitantly extending an arm to help the man. “I thought you were someone else.”

The man looked up, and Allura found herself drawn in by a pair of kind, dark eyes. Underneath his hand, she could see a gentle smile slowly spread across his face.

“Well, if that someone else comes around, I’ll be sure to step out of the way and let you handle it,” he quipped weakly. “You pack quite a punch—nice form, by the way. Anyways, I’m sorry for sneaking up on you like that.” He straightened a bit (oh _stars_ , was he tall) and—voice thick from clogging his nose—asked, “Ah, are you Allura Altea, by chance?”

“I am,” Allura responded cautiously. Despite how attractive this guy might be (at least from what she’d seen of the undamaged parts of his face), she wasn’t going to take any chances.

There was that smile again. He held out the hand that wasn’t covering his nose and introduced himself. “Takashi Shirogane. I ran into Lance a few moments ago and he said you wanted to meet me, so I tried to catch up.”

Allura took the offered hand, despite it being the left, as she wracked her brain to figure out why Lance would have wanted to send him over to her even after that outburst. Not that she was complaining (and not that she would let Lance know that)—it was just a very raw first impression, but this Takashi Shirogane seemed like a pretty good guy. He’d taken being mistakenly punched in the face in stride, and seemed quite amiable. Keith could learn a thing or two from him.

Of course, Allura was so lost in thought that she’d said most of this out loud, and she felt her face flush just as a hint of pink crept into Takashi’s cheeks.

“I try not to make it _too_ much of a habit, but yeah, I’ve been punched enough that I can just roll with it. Although, most of it has been in combat, and you’re the only one who’s ever apologized for doing so.”

He trailed off there, though Allura could have sworn she heard him murmur, “Andyou’rereallypretty,” beneath his hand.

“And as for Keith,” he continued, shoulders slumping in exasperation, “I’ve spent years trying to make him a sociable human being. As much as I’d hope, I doubt he’s going to change his ways anytime soon.”

Allura froze. _Oh_.

Takashi _Shirogane_.

If memory served, Keith’s adoptive older brother, the stargazing, lightsaber-fighting ex-soldier, was named _Shiro_.

Oh, Voltron _help_ her…

Shiro must have been able to read the crisis over that realization on her face, as he gave her a sympathetic look. “I take it you weren’t actually looking for me?”

Allura returned with an apologetic smile. “Lance,” she supplied, as if that was the only explanation needed.

And so it was. Shiro shook his head, hand still clasped over his nose. “Lance, indeed.”

They stood in silence for a moment, unsure of where to go from there now that the truth was out.

Wrapping her arms around herself, Allura looked behind her, back towards her car parked on the street. She should really just go home and turn in for the night, even if she was terribly interested in learning more about Shiro, now that she’d met him. There was already a… spark of attraction, Allura could tell, but she just simply couldn’t deal with that right now, not with her father’s passing still fresh a year later, nor with his ~~friend’s~~ betrayer’s trial due to hit court.

But then there was that other part of her mind, questioning why she needed to put the rest of her life on hold. As much of a handful as they were, making friends with those four teens had been beneficial; maybe it wouldn’t hurt to invite someone else into her life, and let that relationship go where it may.

Mistaking the long silence as disinterest, Shiro nodded in understanding and began to turn away, but Allura reached out for his free arm to stop him.

“I’m about to head out,” she admitted, “but I’m thinking of stopping at the Garrison Diner for a late dinner. I wouldn’t mind some company.”

Shiro smiled again, though this time it was accompanied by a curious head-tilt. “Keith told you the mac and cheese story, I take it?”

“Pidge, actually. Plus, I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a ‘Shiro’-size order available on the menu. Can’t say I’ve ever tried it in any size, though.”

“Well, we’ll just have to do something about that.” Shiro began to follow her, but stopped in his tracks. “Before we get to that, though, do you know where I could find a First Aid kit around here? I’d rather not pass out from copious blood loss over dinner.”

* * *

 

(Meanwhile, four figures were huddled around a window directly above Shiro and Allura, munching on leftover appetizers and completely engrossed in the scene below them.

“See?” Keith said, a smug look crossing his oh-so-expressive face. “Told you she’d hit it off with someone.”)

**Author's Note:**

> Kind of an abrupt ending, but even in its initial incarnation I had failed to make it beyond that point. But I think it's a funny little ending, so I'm keeping it. 
> 
> Seeing as this was a bit of a writing exercise, it's not likely that there will be a continuation of this 'verse, unless I'm really struck by inspiration. But assuming everything works out, I should have a few more things coming up soon (and a few more ideas in progress). It just depends on having the time to write and feeling comfortable enough with the characterization to post. 
> 
> Hope to post for you again soon! Otherwise, you can catch me on Tumblr at obscure-sentimentalist.


End file.
